Dunbar Creek, Fayette County, 5/18/25

[jordan7982]

I fished Dunbar from 4:30 to dusk on Sunday. I parked at the small lot opposite of the gun range and fished upstream roughly half a mile. Didn't take a water temp but air temp was high 60s I believe. Water flow for Dunbar was excellent due to due the amount of rain in the past weeks in SWPA.

To my surprise, I had my best day on the stream, numbers wise. Got 7 in the hand and 3 missed strikes. All were on a bead head sz14 nymph while using my euro rod, except one was rising consistently under some brush cover and got it with a small caddis pattern that rode in the water film. All fish were rainbows at or under 12", likely from stocking earlier this year.

Felt like writing a post though to talk about the bug life I saw. Between the green drakes, march browns(maybe?), sulphurs (both duns and spinners later with little egg sacks on their rears), and caddis, I felt like I was on fishing or penns creek. Sure, the density of the hatches wasn't enough to rival those streams and no consistent risers, but it's still awesome to see that kind of diversity on a SWPA stream.

Green drake pic to get everyone excited for the next couple of weeks...

 

[greenghost]

Thanks for the post. I've fished Dunbar since the 70's and have seen it go from basically sterile to now supportive of fishable hatches. Drakes have been coming off there for decades now. In the early days, it was very sporadic and random. Today, it is far more prevalent. It's time for me to make a visit. 🙂

 

[jordan7982]

Thanks for the post. I've fished Dunbar since the 70's and have seen it go from basically sterile to now supportive of fishable hatches. Drakes have been coming off there for decades now. In the early days, it was very sporadic and random. Today, it is far more prevalent. It's time for me to make a visit. 🙂

Your reply reminded me that CRTU chapter is probably who I should be thanking right now. Think they are the ones who fixed Glade Run up from AMD.

 

[greenghost]

Your reply reminded me that CRTU chapter is probably who I should be thanking right now. Think they are the ones who fixed Glade Run up from AMD.

Yes... they are directly responsible. Twice a year, volunteers place 200 tons of limestone sand in a pit to neutralize Glade Run AMD. It's works. Hopefully, the funding will continue. It's amazing what a healer Mother Nature can be when given the chance.